Excuse Me...But Is That a Dog or a Small Horse?

So I started this little puppy piece yesterday that features a little doberman puppy. This is an 8 x 10 drawing done in pen and ink stippling, enhanced with Prismacolor pencils and Tombow markers

Pretty much all puppies are cute, no matter the breed but dobermans in my opinion really are one of the most beautiful dogs in the aggressive dog breed category.  I'm not fond of pit bulls or rottweilers but dobbies are so athletic, strong and very intimidating.  My oldest son owns 2 of them and the oldest one is absolutely huge.  His name is Odin and I think that is pretty fitting name.

My tiny granddaughter is dwarfed when she stands next to him and that concept of the problems a tiny girl could face owning such large dog just keeps rolling around in my head and I just can't seem to let it go.  I think it has the possibility of being a cute story line.  So I'm revisiting some of my earlier drawings on the subject and I have started writing some verses to go along. I thought I might share both of my works in progress with my blog readers as I work my way through this.


Here are two verses of about seven or so I have written so far.  I will share more of them as I work out more of the illustrations.  I hope you enjoy this and don't mind my anxiousness to share all this fun I'm having.


The smaller the puppy....
The cuter he appears
From his little black nose to his floppy ears
If only he could stay this size for all his years.

The growing puppy....
Don't fall for all this cuteness and be deceived
He will surely grow much bigger than you have believed
I hope you're ready for all the PUPPINESS you have received.

Stipled Smiling Swine

"Lunch and a Spa Treatment"- Pen and Ink w/Colored Pencil

I will never give up painting but I have to confess that I am finding more and more pleasure in sketching.  This week I had a blast drawing this smiling pig standing in the middle of a mud puddle while chopping on a tasty apple.   Her eyes are closed in anticipation and you can see a slight smile across her face as you know she is imagining the crisp crunch and sweet flavor that will soon be her experience.  If this little sketch of mine has brought a smile to your face then I have accomplished my mission.

Sketch in Progress

I started her in the morning, worked on her for a few minutes during my lunch break at work and then couldn't wait to get home to finish her up.  She is drawn on a 9 x 12 Canson Bristol paper with pretty much using my Prismacolor Fine Line Markers exclusively and the .005 size the most.  It is a lot of inking but I find the process relaxing, probably much in the same way that those adult coloring books have gained in popularity.  I just love using the stippling technique but it is rather time consuming when you think of the thousands of little dots necessary to fill in a sketch.  I will be adding just a little color to the scene by adding red to the apples, a light tint of green to the grass and some shading to give her depth.  I will probably use my Prismacolor colored pencils to add the coloring.  

The whole time I was drawing this I had a smile on my face as I kept thinking of funny captions and titles but I think I've settled on "Lunch and a Spa Treatment".  I can't wait to add this gal to my new line up of greeting cards and prints for my "Down Country Roads" series and solo show coming up in April at the Boulder City Gallery.  The original of all my sketches are available until they are sold. Prints and greeting cards are available at JulieTownsendStudio.com and I'm also have an Etsy Store.

Finished sketch before I added color

Practice Makes Perfect

 I have blogged on several occasions about how drawing consistently will make you a better painter and for sure a better pencil artist.  This morning I was looking at some of my early sketches and it is so obvious how my frequent drawing has come to improve my skills.

Here are a couple of examples of early sketches that I did of my son, his wife and my grandson in 2009 and 2010.  I'm pretty embarrassed at those SCARY teeth.  Thankfully my daughter-in-law is still talking to me.

These were done at the very beginning of my artistic journey and as you can see,  I needed a lot of improvement.  That is the thing about being an artist, your journey is never over and you never stop improving your skills.  As long as you have your eyesight and the ability and strength to hold a paintbrush or pencil steady, you are always honing your skills and techniques.  You are always thinking of the next painting or looking for inspiration at every turn in the road.  In my case, this past year I have been sketching a great deal.  Mostly portraits but there are wildlife and some still life thrown in there too.  My sketchpad and my pencil box are with me usually wherever I go.  I have recently started an artistic journal and am very excited about that.  I have plans of filling it with lots of small sketches as I enjoy my summer travels.  

Now if you will just humor me and allow me to show you some recent sketches so you can see that my ability with a pencil and pen have improved over the past few years and this is all a result of my dedication to drawing regularly.  I do need to interject here that I by no means think I am accomplished as a graphite or pen and ink artist.  I have SO MUCH more to learn but I am simply trying to encourage you to grab that sketchpad or doodle just a little bit more because as your mom would always say, " PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!"

Graphite 8x10 of my favorite actor- Tom Selleck

A granddaughter of a good friend- I'm really having fun with this stippling technique

"Through Sad Eyes"- another ink sketch using stippling and colored with pastel pencil

Here are some pages from my artistic journal that I have recently started.  I have plans to start branching out into watercolors soon but right now I have only been using my colored pencils to enhance the pages.  This is really fun because the pressure of creating something that I feel I have to frame and show isn't there.  I also think this will be something that perhaps my grandchildren will treasure and enjoy looking at as I am sure there will be plenty of drawings in the future that include them.  I'm going to embellish the cover and make it something really fun and colorful rather than leaving it with it's boring sketchbook cover.

I would love for you to leave me a comment, share your experiences or follow my blog posts.  You can also check out all my work at my website at julietownsendstudio.com.